“And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she thought, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, “Who touched me?”’ And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” – Mark 5:21-35
There comes a time when the things you used to do or even still do to make you feel better will not relieve your troubles anymore. But what if I told you that the Spirit of God has the power to help you manage, if not, eliminate those troubles? Miracles can happen in the middle of things you thought were impossible to defeat.
In the start of Mark 5:25, Matthew 9:20 and/or Luke 8:43 Jesus was on His way to Jairus’ house to help him with his dying daughter when He was interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood. Her problem was an internal problem, just like feelings. Nobody can see what you’re feeling. Nobody can see what dominates and depresses you. Are there any areas of your life where you’re bleeding that no one can see? Where are you hurting that no one really knows about? An example might be hurting in a financial way but then the fact that you can’t even provide for your family makes you feel worthless and even worse about being broke…that’s when being broke becomes an internal problem.
Have you done something to make yourself feel better but later come to find out it actually made you feel worse? Have you ever ate something (comfort food) to make you feel better and felt better for about 5 minutes, but then hours later that same thing that made you feel better then is causing you to have an upset stomach or giving you really bad gas now? Are we giving our energy to things that promise to make it better but in the end make us feel worse?
This woman had her issue for so long that her issue became her name and her identity. Have you been called grumpy, an addict, a drunk, anxious, depressed, or even been told that it’s in your genetics for so long that you now identify with it as just who you are? Let me tell you something: these things you identify yourself with haven’t met Jesus yet. There’s also a flipside to how people identify you; along with your issues, people identify you with your achievements as well, making you feel like you have a lot to live up to, which puts tremendous pressure on you. Don’t listen to people when they label you by your failures or accomplishments. That’s not all that you are. Be aware as well as empowered to know that feelings follow thoughts, and depending on the thought you entertain can make you or break you.
Do you define yourself by your emotions, your status, your lowest point or your highest point? There’s a bleeding on the inside of you if your sense of self worth is based on what you do and what you go through. You’re not going to get better just by going to Bible study. You have to put yourself in the promises of God and words of truth with some effort. Maybe instead of waiting for a touch from God, it’s time to reach out to God first with worship, praise, and gratitude. It’s time to show some determination and equip yourself with the armor of God, along with His promises.
What stopped the woman’s bleeding? The bleeding stopped because she thought. After touching Jesus’ garment, she was instantly healed. You can stop it with a thought. I am not my issue. It starts with a thought. Thoughts are optional. You can choose which thoughts you entertain.
Jesus didn’t call her “woman with the issue of blood,” he called her “daughter.” Apparently, this is the only time that Jesus used the word daughter to describe a woman. When Jesus was on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter, there was another daughter who forgot she was a daughter of God. When she heard from Jesus about who she was, it freed her from her shame and it can free you too. Being a child of God is an amazing thing. It has the ability to free you and heal you from the thoughts that enslave you.
“Consider it pure joy whenever you face various trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4
The book of James is a very powerful letter, written by Jesus’ brother in the New Testament. He wrote this to believers who faced trials that were similar to what other believers, including myself, experience today. The first 8 verses alone are incredibly powerful. Today, I’m focusing on verses 1:2-4 and how it has related to my struggle. The darkness and trials people come against after they turn their lives over to Christ is sometimes almost too much to handle, but with God, it’s possible. I believe this letter was a word of encouragement to believers to have patience and persevere through trials.
I have been dealing with a lot of difficulties lately that has given me writer’s block and prevented me from writing. I’ve started writing again only by God’s persistent nudging and encouragement. I have had struggles with family members and addictions, depression and anxiety and God is the only one who has been able to bring me out of it before and now. Before I knew God, there would be times where I would go days just sleeping from depression and weeks with uncontrollable anxiety. I was also an addict and an alcoholic, which helped me self-medicate.
These first 2 verses in the book of James has been something that God has been putting in front of me to get me to see that these trials and tribulations all have a purpose. That purpose is to get me to see that they are producing patience and perseverance in me. The original word for trials was temptations and was Greek for peirasmos, meaning a putting to proof by experiment of good; being disciplined when being provoked by evil.
I feel that the more someone has been through and the stronger the testimony after turning their lives over to God, the more the dark forces of the world will fight to keep that person down and from accomplishing what God has put in their hearts to do. For me, God has made me somewhat gifted at writing and I say that as humbly as possible because I didn’t think I was a very decent writer until other people started telling me how gifted I was at writing. Since then, I have learned to accept their compliments and try and embrace my gift with words that God has given me.
Since I haven’t been writing in a while, this blog might seem a bit rough around the edges but as I keep going and pushing through the negativity this world throws at me, I know one day soon, God will get His glory by having me give my testimony and words of encouragement for all the things He’s done for me. Until then, I will keep talking to the Lord and having him lead me in the right direction.
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV)
Most Christians don’t know that fasting is an essential part to following God, along with praying and giving. A lot of Christians don’t even do all three. There is so much more to being a Christian than believing that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. It takes work and dedication, just like with any relationship. Most importantly, it takes trust in God. A relationship can’t work if you don’t trust the other person. However, I’m not here to talk about that today. I am here to talk about the benefits of fasting spiritually and the different types of fasting.
Spiritually speaking, fasting is very important. Muslims have Ramadan but Christians don’t have a set in stone time of the year to fast. The Christians that do fast usually do it at the beginning of the year so that God can bless them in various ways, whether it be through financial blessings, healings, loved ones reuniting, and many other things. God doesn’t usually do the same thing in the same way more than once so even if it’s similar, it’s still not the same. Fasting will even break strongholds like various addictions and demonic powers that influence people to do things they don’t want to do.
There are 3 types of fasts: one being an absolute fast, a total fast and a partial fast. The absolute fast is very extreme and involves not eating or drinking anything and should only be done for very short periods of time. Esther in the Bible did this fast for 3 days when she was going to talk to the king about reversing a decree that was going to wipe out all the Jews and got the decree reversed. A total fast is one where you go without food for a certain number of days. The longer the fast, the more likely you will need juice or broth to replenish electrolytes but otherwise, you can just drink water if you’re doing it for less than a week. Then there is a partial fast, where you cut off certain foods or drinks for a specified amount of time. The Daniel Fast is the most popular fast of the partial fasts. You can also intermittent fast, which is not eating for an allotted amount of time and having a small window (usually 8 hours or less) to eat in a 24 hour period.
I am reading a book right now called Fasting by Jentezen Franklin so there is so much more information that can be said about fasting, not to mention the physical benefits like cell regeneration and ketosis to name a few. Ultimately, fasting is a spiritual discipline that is not taught in most churches nowadays but it is one of the most crucial spiritual practices to see God’s blessings and experience breakthroughs in your life. Whether it’s fasting for 3 days or 40 days, God will see what you do in private and reward you publicly. Moreover, this is something you should really pray and talk to God about before you start doing and see what He wants you to do and what you would like from the fast, that way you have motivation to keep going when the temptation gets really hard to resist.
There are so many distractions out there nowadays that prevent people from living out their dreams and following God’s plan. These distractions can range anywhere from various social media apps, other apps, TV shows, and even alcohol. As someone who has let themselves get tangled up in these distractions, I want to talk about how detrimental these distractions can be to our peace of mind and some ways we can block out these distractions in order to hear the voice of God.
I have never been more satisfied and at peace with myself than when I first met God. Unfortunately, old habits have started to creep back in and God’s plan for me has recently been put on the back burner. Since I have let distractions like social media, Netflix, etc. get the best of me, I have been finding it harder and harder to have overwhelming peace like before. Anxiety and depression has started creeping in again. It hasn’t been easy following God and a lot more problems and distractions keep piling up.
However, God love has shown through to the point that I have finally been able to get out of this writer’s block and start writing about the very things that started becoming a problem for me again. How do we block out these distractions when it’s so much easier to watch TV or check social media rather than following through on dreams and goals?
Reading the Bible and spending time with God is another way to get things back in focus. We have to tell ourselves “no” to the things we want to do until we get the work done we need to get done. After you have crossed some things off of your daily checklist, it’s good to reward yourself with Facebook or watching a TV show after you have finished your work for the day. With all of the different apps, TV shows, social media apps, and many other things, it’s easy to get caught up in the things that won’t propel you forward if you let them.
Start out small with a couple of goals you want to accomplish daily and then progressively add more and more goals onto your daily, weekly, and monthly To-Do List. The feeling of accomplishing something and checking it off feels amazing and brings you one step closer to living out your dreams and embracing God’s calling on your life.
Lately, I have been having trouble with indecision and getting ADHD symptoms and come to find out, it’s because I’ve been too focused on the wrong things. I haven’t been writing in order to channel my creativity. God has shown me that I am putting too much stress on what to write about than just writing on the experiences and information I come across daily. I watched a sermon on Youtube about Rick Warren telling people how to be led by God’s Spirit and I felt compelled to write about and elaborate on some of the things he talked about. Hopefully, this will help someone who has been struggling to find a relationship with God and do His will.
God gives you a roadmap, a compass and a helper. The roadmap is the Bible, the compass is your conscience, and the helper is the Holy Spirit. “Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are His children.” Romans 8:14. These are some of the things you can’t do and follow God.
The first thing you can’t do is follow a culture that doesn’t follow God. “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Then, you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 It’s not important to be on the right side of history but the right side in general.
The second thing you can’t do is follow friends who aren’t being led by the Spirit. They can become mind-pollution. Warren says, “some people are so open-minded, their brain falls out.” I, for one, used to be one of those people. I was so gullible and naive. More often than not, I was manipulated and put through a lot of mental and emotional trauma before I sought God. He pursued me in my darkest times. “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:7-8. Warren uses an analogy of Christians needing to act like a thermostat instead of a thermometer. Basically, influence others (in the right way) instead of letting anyone influence you (in a negative way).
The third thing you can’t do if you want to follow God is look to other sources that aren’t God. Something that I was overly guilty of was reading my daily, monthly, and yearly horoscope. That is a big “no no” if you are trying to follow the Holy Spirit. Quitting divination was one of the first things he corrected me on when I started seeking and following Him. He is a loving God and during that time, He didn’t belittle me or criticize me for my naivety. He led me in the right direction, which was away from divination, horoscopes, and tarot. I went from getting my information from demons to getting my information from God. I used to think being psychic was cool until I found out the difference between a prophet and a psychic. A prophet gets their information from God and psychics get their information from demons. Have you ever heard a prophet ask for money? No. (If they do, they’re not a prophet.) How about a psychic? Absolutely. “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord…” Deuteronomy 18: 10-12. Plain and simple, something as secular as checking your horoscope is going against God’s will.
The fourth thing you can’t do is let your circumstances lead you. Not everything that is circumstantial is God’s will. Some circumstances can even lead you the wrong way completely. Not everything you go through is going to be God’s will. “And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. The last thing you need to stop doing is keep being led by your feelings and emotions. The heart is deceitful and feelings lie. “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12. Nothing in this life is a guarantee and the only thing that is constant and unchanging is God.
There are so many things in this world that have been deemed as acceptable but in reality, are not even close to being acceptable in God’s eyes. This world has been painted red with appealing images of sin and it is only getting worse. The best thing anyone can do is to turn away from the way the world thinks is right and turn to God to lead them in the right direction. God is love and accepts everyone where they’re at without shaming them or making them feel guilty for any of the sinful things they’ve done or even continue to do. (He will reprimand repeated sin after He has addressed it though.) “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1. Let’s renew our minds and walk in the Spirit.
I have come to find that when I am very close to achieving a huge breakthrough in life, distractions always seem to come up and grab my attention away from the important task I’m trying to accomplish. Breakthroughs and distractions go hand in hand, especially when you are a child of God, which is something everyone has had happen to them whether they acknowledge it or not. Distractions aren’t necessarily bad or evil but they seem to come at the worst time when you are trying to start something important.
I’ve had writer’s block for the last week after taking a week off. After writing a few articles that fell through, I’ve just now had the ability to rouse myself up from the disappointments and distractions to sit down and write this article. It’s a topic that has been relating to me the last couple of weeks and is something I know a lot about from personal experience.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13. Always remember that the enemy is the one who puts it into your head that you don’t have enough time to do the things that are important, like spending time with God.
Some ways to get away from the distractions and focus on God is to get away from people, TV, etc. and go somewhere quiet to sit and talk to God, also known as praying. You would be surprised at how little time it takes to start focusing on what you need to do when you give God your undivided attention. I find it best to go to the park and stay away from the comfort of home. Sometimes it can turn into some sort of comfortable prison where I lose all focus and even start to feel like I’m stuck and can’t leave. I get anxiety and depression very easily when I take my focus off of the Holy Spirit and what He wants me to do. I used to be on medication for anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder but since I’ve turned my life over to God’s will, I haven’t needed any medication and haven’t had any severe meltdowns, panic attacks, or weeks of depressions in over a year since I started my walk with the Holy Spirit. He is the Mighty Counselor and Excellent Father that anyone can turn to when experiencing difficulties in life.
You will always find friction when you are working to better yourself in some way or another. When you’re close to a breakthrough, arguments between loved ones break out, people and their agendas disappoint or take advantage of you, and things just go wrong in general. It’s easy to get anxious and depressed when you take your eyes off of God and the hardest part is focusing on something you can’t see or even physically feel. “So we fix our eyes on not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:18. When you can accomplish the task of focusing on and talking to our Creator, life starts to get a whole lot easier and breakthroughs start to take place. There is always time to talk to God.
“Rejoice in the Lord Always. Again I say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, giving thanks, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent and worthy of praise, meditate on these things.”
Philippians 4:4-8
I’ve heard a saying that doing the hard things in life makes life easy and doing the easy things in life makes life hard. This life is not meant to just sit around watching Netflix all day when you’re not working. It is meant to be lived by making your life a better show than any show they have on Netflix. Slow progress is still progress. Strive to push yourself a little farther each day and start talking to God in the mornings before doing anything else.
1 Chronicles 12:32 says, “From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do- 200 chief, with all their relatives under their command.” The most important thing you need to know is knowing the times that we live in. God does everything in a season and a time. God does not change. He’s always holy, He’s always pure, and He’s always righteous.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There are 4 words you need to understand: Kronos is Greek and it means the passing of time. It’s chronological. Kairos is Greek for an appointment or appointed time. Hereaus is Greek word that means an exact moment in time. Finally, pleroma means the fullness or fulfillment of time.
My season isn’t your season. The great thing about God is that He can make us all different and be living together in different seasons of all kinds. Suppose you have an appointment of some kind, you wake up in kronos and are heading for kairos. There’s still waiting when you get there and when that door opens, you have to go right through it because that’s the exact moment in time (hereaus) you’re supposed to go through. When it’s done, you experience pleuras because the thing you had to do is done.
Life moves in seasons. The key to life is to recognize what season you’re in. If you don’t know the season, you won’t know the purpose of the season. To find purpose in the season of your life, you need to know you have appointments with God for certain things to happen. There are even appointed times for you to meet people. You have a hereaus (exact moment in time) for the door to open and you have to go through it and finish it (pleuras). There are certain things in life in the natural where you can understand when your season is over. The problem with most people is that they want to stay in that season.
When you’re in certain seasons, there’s a gracing and an anointing that you have to do in order to finish them. The hard part after going through the door and experiencing the fullness of that season is something that we all hate: God does a divine shift. What is a divine shift? It is when God is shaping you and shifting you into your next season. What He’s going to do is remake your vessel. You were so faithful in the last season, God has to crush you a little bit in order to shape you for the next season.
When you start questioning things God has spoken to you, think about God and what He told Ananias to do. Ananias was hesitant about going to pray for Saul to get his sight back because of all the Christians Saul had killed and imprisoned but he went and prayed for him anyway. Saul was a chosen vessel. He was making him from a Christian killer to a person who brought people to Christ. Afterwards, Saul became Paul. It does not feel good when God crushes us. Some of us are harder header than others and end up having to go through a harder process.
The definition of purpose is the reason why someone exists. Most people don’t know why they exist. We all have a purpose. Everyone has a God purpose and a kingdom purpose. EVERYTHING has a purpose. If you’re breathing, you still have purpose.
4 Facts about Purpose:
If you don’t know the purpose of a thing, misuse is inevitable.
Only the creator of a thing understands the purpose and potential of the thing.
Just because it serves the purpose, doesn’t mean that’s what it was created to do.
The true value of things are only understood by knowing its purpose.
Some of us are not doing what we’re supposed to be doing and we haven’t even tapped into our purpose. A phone used to be just a phone. We have to learn the potential of what a phone can do nowadays. Inside of a phone is a whole world and misuse is probable if we don’t know the potential inside of it. Just like a phone, there are seasons of development where our potential is increased to the point where there’s almost no limit to what we can do.
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
Ephesians 1:11
Inheritance is a designated or assigned allotment. What God gives you is not what He gives me. Predestination is an allotment that is predetermined ahead of time. In Him, we have an allotment that was predetermined. He takes those things and uses them to establish your purpose to bring about His will for your life.
“And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28
All things, good or bad, work towards His purpose. If you’re not in compliance with His purpose, bad is going to be tough. He’s trying to reveal His purpose to you. He’s trying to reveal your spiritual purpose for the kingdom of God.
God does not change His mind for what He created you to be. There’s a difference between “on purpose” and “for purpose.” There are people’s purposes, there are Satan’s purposes, and there are God’s purposes and you’re following one of them. God is leading everything to His purpose. God uses what others do on purpose for His purpose. It’s not comfortable and it doesn’t feel good. He gave us free will. Why do we have freedom of choice? Because God is love and we have to choose to love Him. We are different than angels; if they do bad, God kicks them out. We’re made in His image and He gave us the ability to choose.
Joseph had a dream of where God was taking him. But, his dreams got him in trouble. However, God took what they did to him on purpose (throwing him into a pit, selling him into slavery) and used their purpose to promote His purpose on getting him into the palace. Find who’s purpose you’re following. Daniel purposed in his heart that he wouldn’t eat the kings meat and wouldn’t stop praying. Stubbornness and rebellion can be godly but you have to do it at the right time in the right way. Sometimes when you’re doing God’s purpose, people will do things to you on purpose, like attack, slander, and threaten you. You will not like some of the things you have to go through.
They killed Jesus on purpose. Their purpose was different and it was to try and erase Him. Religion has killed too many people and has taken them away from God. Religion is dying because we’re going to kill it with the new outpouring. Some people are going to talk bad about it and will not change. The new outpouring will not fit in your religious structure. The purpose of God is to move us forward. God used the blood of Jesus to wash away our sins, ALL of our sins. God took the purpose of killing Jesus and made it into eternal life. He took His death and turned it into victory.
Don’t pray to get out of it, but pray to get through it. Satan has a purpose: to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan is out to kill your spirit. He’s out to kill your love, compassion, forgiveness, (fruit of the Spirit) etc. People are going to try and discredit you and try to take your purpose. He will put people and things in your path that rub you the wrong way. He will try and put people in your way that will try and change you. Jesus says you have to love your enemies and forgive 70 X 7. Forgiveness is not for them. It’s for you. You can’t carry hurt and pain other people have done to you into the next season. If you carry it into the next season, you’ll destroy people in the same way again. Suppose you’re driving in traffic and someone cuts you off. What’s the first thought that goes through your mind? For most people, it’s not something very godly. When you take that into every aspect of life, you know when someone does something on purpose to you, they meant to do it. Your mind gets flooded with all of these thoughts and you start meditating on what they’ve done to you in your mind. That’s where Satan comes in. Satan attacks us with thoughts. The only weapon Satan can use against you is your thoughts. The only way he can get it in you or around you is with the way you think. After he gets you to believe a thought, his goal is to attack you and get you to stay in that place. Then he tries to get us to self destruct.
People choose to be in addiction, and the thoughts from the devil reinforce it. The people believe the lie and turn to something. There are a lot of other addictions besides porn, alcohol and drugs. People go looking for something to make them feel better because you’re depressed. Physical sickness can be a cause of stress. You’re in fear and it’s all because you didn’t see His purpose. You’re stuck in a season because you haven’t learned the purpose of what you need to go through. If you’re not doing anything to change that, prayer is not going to change anything. You have to work His word. Satan tries to cause you to remain there but God takes all of that and turns it around into His purpose. He doesn’t take it if you don’t give it.
“He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgement, because for every matter there is a time and judgement, though the misery of man increases greatly.”
Ecclesiastes 8:5-6
There is a timing for everything. Every season has a timing but the timing in every season is different. When you finally give up and come to the end of yourself, then hereaus comes. You have to know the timing of your season. Timing is based on your learning. You can speed up your season the quicker you learn your purpose and start to understand why these things are happening but when you keep questioning things, it’s like putting the brakes on it. Judgement means to judge the value of a thing. Appraisal means to know the value of why you’re going through that season. For every person and every season is timing and value. We have to know the timing and know the value of that timing. God knows every decision we’ll ever make, but God makes us a way out and pulls some purpose out of it.
When you’re in pursuit of purpose, you’ll be shocked when you see the evidence of His goodness all around you and then you’ll start seeing His promises. Why did God create you? What is the specific reason He created you? At the end of every season, the purpose changes. When you start to see the purpose of this season, things will start getting easier. God says it’s not a gift from me if you have to pay for it. Identify the purpose of this season and seek first the kingdom purpose and all these things will be given to you.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…”
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)
Running for a long time can be exhausting if you haven’t built up enough endurance. Exercising your faith is the same way. When life gets hard and you haven’t exercised your faith, it’s easy to crumble under the pressure. God want to condition us to trust in Him despite any and all circumstances we may face in this life. Without trials and tribulations, how can our faith be tested and our trust in God be amplified? The hard answer is that it can’t. We must trust Him just as much in the valley as when we trust Him on the mountain.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
In the very beginning, it’s not easy being a Christian. Life gets harder because you have an entire world of demonic, spiritual forces coming against you and the only thing sometimes that makes it worth sticking with it is God’s presence. But, that’s what He wants you to want, to have a true relationship with Him and depend on Him and His power completely to keep you safe as well as give you indescribable joy and peace. I used to be a bad alcoholic and a drug addict. I did those things to feel happy. Not one of those drugs came close to the feeling of peace and joy I get when I talk to God. I recently got drunk unintentionally and I was surprised at how empty, numb, and unsatisfying it was. Getting drunk was something I did almost every day for 3 years a few years ago. After tasting God’s goodness, I realized that nothing will ever satisfy me and make me truly happy like being in His presence has made me feel. Drugs and alcohol give you artificial happiness and once you have tasted the joy of the Lord, those things will never satisfy again like they did before.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kind, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4
So, when you get tired on this journey of faith and you want to back to your old vices, remember that all of this testing of faith produces perseverance. This whole journey of life is meant to be lived by having faith in God and getting to personally know Him and His love for us. He created us for relationship with Him and when the fall happened, sin was born and that relationship was cut off. Then, God got tired of people not having a relationship with Him and came down as Jesus Christ. He was born a human birth and grew up to be a man who died a horrific death and became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He didn’t just die for some of us; He died for all of us who are willing to seek Him out and have a relationship with Him. He even died for the people who will never know Him. He has given everyone free will and the option to know Him and it is up to us to continue to strive to make the right decisions. When you get tired, rest in His presence and He will renew your strength.
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
You don’t run a marathon without conditioning yourself to run it first. It takes time and training and so does faith. If following God were easy, everyone would do it. But, even though it’s so hard to keep your head above water at times, just to know God, have a relationship with Him and feel the peace and joy of knowing Him makes all of the hard times worth it. He gives you breaks when you are mentally and emotionally drained and He waits with you while you are taking that much needed break. The Holy Spirit is the best friend I’ve ever had and He knows me so well. There is nothing that can explain the sheer joy I feel after talking to Him, even after I’ve felt my faith has been tested to the breaking point. Some tests of faith are meant to break you so that God can shape you for the better.
“Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”
Hebrews 12:12-13 (NKJV)
When you get to the breaking point, don’t lose heart. When you feel like you can’t take it anymore, rest. Life is not an all-out sprint. It’s a marathon that takes a life time to run. Every single one of us are broken, but our brokenness makes each of us unique and God works with each individual person to heal their brokenness in different ways. He created us and knows what’s best for us. He loves us unconditionally and even when we wonder why we’re struggling so much, God knows why and it’s meant for our good. Let’s finish strong, give it our all, and rest when we need to in God’s loving arms.
“See, God has come to save me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.”
Forgiveness is by no means an easy task to do, especially if someone keeps hurting you or has hurt you severely. As children of God, we have a responsibility to forgive people who have wronged us. Not for them, but for ourselves and God. It doesn’t matter what the offense was or the number of times someone hurt you, forgiveness will set you free and not let the person have control over your happiness. We do this to keep from having bitterness and resentment build up inside of us like a cancer. We also do it in order for God to forgive us when we sin too.
Even if you don’t have relationship with God, the steps can help you in the process of forgiveness. You must always let in love to start forgiving someone. ” Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.” -Proverbs 10:12. Depending on the severity of the offence, time is a key factor into processing through feelings of what someone has done to you. “…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Phillipians 3:13. After moving forward with forgiving someone, including yourself if you’ve wronged someone, it is good to meditate on scripture. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” -Matthew 6:12.
Give your hurts over to God so that He can take the burden of resentment and the pain away. As I’ve been getting closer to the Holy Spirit, I have found it easier to pray for people that upset me or hurt me than it is to retaliate. ” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44. Revenge isn’t worth it and all punishments God gives are perfect according to each offence. God can and does punish those who seek revenge themselves, and this has been true for me even before I had a personal relationship with God. Something bad always seemed to happen to me if I sought revenge and I’ve seen bad things happen to people who wronged me too, like instant karma.
Depending on how severely someone has wronged you, choosing forgiveness daily will eventually take away any hurt and keep it from turning into resentment. As I’ve seen my own mother die from cancer, I believe all the hate, anger, and resentment she held for people over the years was what caused it, along with being exposed to carcinogens. These hurts and resentments can cause other physical traumas too like high blood pressure, but ultimately, anyone who doesn’t forgive others will be worn down in some way. Don’t let what someone did to you affect your years down the line. Let go and let God.
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:11, 12. Everyone knows that they can get physically sick, but what about spiritually sick? I know some people are mentally unwell with various illnesses but I’m talking about catching something mental after being around negative energy like you would catch something being around someone who was sick with the cold or the flu. That happened to me one time shortly after I was baptized in the Spirit and when into a crystal shop.
I visited this store in Dallas that had psychics, crystals, incense, tarot cards, and other copious occult items that helped people to ward off negative energy, read fortunes, and other psychic fancies. Before I was saved, it never affected me, except in what I thought was a positive way. This time it was different. When I went in this time, I heard a sinister voice in my head repeatedly telling me to “Get Out.” I kept hearing it telling me that and when I left, the Holy Spirit told me that it was a major hang out spot for demons and other dark spirits preying on innocent, ignorant people. I was one of them before God rescued me. Let me be the first to say that most of the people who shop there and work there are not bad people at all. In fact, most of them are the nicest and most helpful people you’ll ever meet. They are just very misinformed about what they’re promoting and getting themselves into. I used to be ignorant to the fact that all of these practices were and are against the will of God.
Before I was saved, I would go in and buy crystals to ward off bad spirits. Little did I know that I was actually welcoming bad spirits to ward off other bad spirits and using occult practices. I used to do horoscopes, astrology, tarot cards and looked up numerous crystals to help me in different ways. God loves every single one of these people and it breaks His heart that they don’t know any better. God would love nothing more than every one to pursue Him and be protected by his light but He is a perfect gentleman and will not force anyone to worship Him or pursue Him if they don’t want to. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the United States, especially the state of Texas, who doesn’t know about God. It is up to us to pursue Him.
Anyway, after I left the store, I didn’t start feeling the spiritual sickness until the next day. I woke up in a horrible mood and was unnaturally angry and depressed throughout the day. I was also very anxious and could only find comfort when I focused on God. Otherwise, I was a very unpleasant person to be around the moment I took my eyes off of Him. These horrible emotions lasted a couple of days, like I was sick, but instead of being sick physically, I was sick mentally and spiritually. I had a short temper and everything seemed to set me off. I would also cry over the stupidest things. The Holy Spirit told me it was a side effect of being spiritually awake and that it was best that I refrained from visiting stores like that again. He tried to warn me before, but I’m the kind of person who learns best from personal experience.
Needless to say, I will not be stepping inside stores that offer occult products again. I realize now that anyone who has psychic abilities has the ability to be a prophet. The difference between a prophet and a psychic is one prophesies in the name of God and the other one gets their information from a demon or deceitful spirit. One also requires payment for their services and the other one doesn’t. Also, psychics don’t actually know the future but demons are excellent at predicting how a person will react in the future because they know that both people and history have the tendency to repeat themselves. Only God truly knows the future. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’” Matthew 7:22. This passage is talking about people who think they are getting their information from God but in fact, never had a relationship with the Holy Spirit and were instead tricked by demons.
This writing was meant to inform and try to save people from making the terrible mistake of thinking that being psychic, using tarot cards or reading horoscopes is okay. It’s not. It’s the occult, which is the opposite of the power of God. For any of you that are offended by what I just said, I’m sorry. I have been into reading my horoscope since I was a little kid and felt the Holy Spirit urging me to tell my story to warn other people not to look into these things that I used to think were fascinating. I’m not trying to change judge anyone that is into this stuff but I am trying to help them as I have first hand experience in dealing with this kind of black magic. Regardless of being a nice psychic or a good witch, all of it is against God. God can heal people, bless people, protect people and give invaluable information to anyone who wants to have a relationship with Him. Not only do you get all of this free of charge, you get an amazing relationship with an amazing God that is a best friend who will never let you down, never lie to you, and never leave you. Step into the light and out of the darkness! “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” III John 1:2.
Rise Of The Pheonix 